Allergic to People: Building Bridges in a Ripped Psychic-Soma

An exploration of the use mind/body metaphors in a woman whose physical, environmental and psychoneurotic trauma culminated in an irreversible colostomy. She lived in a world of concrete symbols, her primary process damaged such that she could not create generative symbols to process her trauma. She regressed to a state of infantile megalomania, recoiling from the external reality of subjective others. Her introjective disorder mirrored her digestive disorder as she could absorb neither good objects nor good nutrients. The analytic situation has been an auxiliary fecal container and we work to bridge her mind body split with mind/body metaphors. As she reclaims lost development mastery, she displays a symbolized sphincter. As her capacity to form symbols grows, she rages and mourns for the loss of her fantasized ideal parents and her ideal body.     

The effectiveness of therapeutic assessment with an adult client: a single-case study using a time-series design

This article presents the therapeutic assessment (TA; Finn, 2007) of a traumatized young woman named Claire. Claire reported feeling debilitated by academic demands and the expectations of her parents, and was finding it nearly impossible to progress in her studies. She was also finding it difficult to develop and sustain intimate relationships. The emotional aspects of close relationships were extremely difficult for her and she routinely blamed herself for her struggles in this arena. The assessor utilized the TA model for adults, with the exception of not including an optional intervention session. The steps of TA, particularly the extended inquiry and the discussion of test findings along the way, cultivated a supportive and empathic atmosphere with Claire. By employing the single-case time-series experimental design used in previous TA studies (e.g., Smith, Handler, & Nash, 2010; Smith, Wolf, Handler, & Nash, 2009), the authors demonstrated that Claire experienced statistically significant improvement correlated with the onset of TA. Results indicated that participation in TA coincided with a positive shift in the trajectory of her reported symptoms and with recognizing the affection she held for others in her life. This case illustrates the successful application of case-based time-series methodology in the evaluation of an adult TA. The potential implications for future study are discussed.     

On mirroring in group psychotherapy

“A woman has two images. There is a magical person seen or remembered by those who love her, her finest qualities are flesh and spirit illuminated. She herself knows this ideal self; she projects it, if she is confident; or she daydreams her ideal self; or she recognizes it with gratitude in the admiring eye of others. There is at the same time a second image; the woman as seen by those who dislike or fear her. This cruel picture has an all too powerful mirror in her own negative idea of herself. She sees with fear her own ravaging impulses and most painful of all, a graceless, freakish, and unlovable physical self, this was the mirror her parents held before Edith. Her brothers saw her with love. She herself knew both images. Her life, and her poetry, constituted a flight from the second one.”     

Dementia–A Spiritual Journey Towards the Divine: A Personal View of Dementia

SUMMARY

This chapter presents a moving account of one woman's journey into fronto-temporal dementia. Bryden grapples with the difficult issues of loss of self and relationship with God. She examines the significance of memory in the Christian journey, and finally, she proposes ways for relating to her as she moves further into dementia. The strategies suggested uphold her as a fellow member of the Body of Christ, where others may become her memory, and where she can still be nurtured through the love of others and feel God's love through them.     

A second Leonardo da Vinci?

We describe a young woman who suddenly began mirror writing with her right hand and has not reverted to normal writing for more than 6 years, although she writes normally with her left hand. She is ambidextrous, although she had previously used only her right hand for writing and drawing. Since it is much easier for her to use right-handed mirror writing, she uses her left hand only for writing meant to be read by others and her right hand for all other writing. Her hobbies are sculpture and painting, and her chief complaint is migraine accompanied by sensory and perceptive disturbances.     

Memoirs of a Mentor: Using Creativity for Counselors in Coping With the Loss of a Mentor

This article was inspired by my (S.S.) own personal loss. My mentor passed away during spring break of my 2nd year postgraduate school after a short battle with systemic lupus. I remember the deep sadness that I felt when it became apparent that she was coming home from the hospital for the last time. No words can describe the emotions; she had helped me through the toughest times in my academic life. How would I ever get the type of mentorship she provided again? She was there when I almost quit as a young student, back when my anger still got the best of me. She talked me down from the edge so many times; I never expected to be on this journey without her.

I dedicate this article to her and mentors like her. Equally, I dedicate this article to mentees who have lost their mentors. I offer my story (in italicized font) in the hopes that it will help others who are dealing with a similar loss. In this article, we attempt to illuminate the true power of mentorship, honor the significance of the relationship between mentor and mentee, and provide a tool useful to anyone who has lost their guide. I share my story in gratitude for my own mentor; I am so thankful that she was a part of my journey and that I can pass on to others the patience she had with me.     

An Interview With Sunny Hansen: Pioneer and Innovator in Counseling and Career Development

During her 45‐year career, Sunny Hansen was a pioneer and innovator in counseling and career development. She has lived the holistic life about which she writes and teaches. In this interview, she discussed the major influences on her life, the evolution of her professional career from English and journalism teacher to counselor and counselor educator, and her teaching and scholarship. She also shared her insights on balancing life roles, holistic life planning, and the counselor as a change agent.     

Living in with Normal Families

Connie Hansen participated in my project, “Methodology for Studying Family Interaction,” in the mid 1960s. One of the purposes of that project was to compare several groups of families, including “normals.” Connie suggested that it might provide a rich source of data if she were to “live in” with a few of the “normal” families and observe them day to day on their own territory. (A year or so before, Dr. Jules Henry had given a talk to the MRI staff about living-in with “schizogenic” families, and I believe that Connie had discussed her idea with him.) Connie was an experienced family therapist — she was one of Virginia Satir's first students — and a most perceptive observer. She lived with three “normal” families for a week each during 1966–67; she was excited by the wealth of material and exhausted by the experience. She tried to develop a group of central themes from her data and gave me a preliminary draft of a paper in 1969. It clearly contained a number of important observations about the complexities and subtleties of family systems and some beginning attempts at conceptualization. She struggled for years to clarify and elaborate on her material. Several times she sent me portions and fragments of new drafts, each with additional insights, but she was never satisfied with her efforts. It seems a fitting tribute to Connie — she died early in 1979 — to attempt to put together her various drafts. We wanted to publish this very important material in a readable form and yet still preserve the immediateness, enthusiasm, and vividness of her observations. I hope, that if she were to read it, she would not be overly critical of this final draft. JULES RISKIN, M.D. It is a special privilege for me to participate in this posthumous publication of Connie Hansen's unique contribution to the further knowledge of family interaction. She died before the material could be published. I feel particular gratitude to the young woman who entered my first training program in 1961 at the Mental Research Institute. This was a time when such training seemed “far out” and was regarded as “probably only a fad.” She was willing to face the risks inherent to her professional standing by choosing to do this training. It was this same courage together with her imagination and curiosity and her willingness to document her experience without judging it that resulted in the article now being published. Farewell, Connie, and thank you for your presence in my life. VIRGINIA M.SATIR     

Reflections on receiving an award

Reflecting on the events that culminated in her receiving the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Applied Psychology as a Professional Practice, Canter, an independent practitioner, discusses the road she traveled to become a clinical psychologist and to become involved in professional organizational activities. She believes that this award was given to her because of her contributions to psychology over her lifetime as an effective and hardworking leader, mentor, and role model in her home state of Arizona and nationally. She addresses some of her ideas about effective leadership and mentoring in the American Psychological Association (APA), providing many examples from which she has learned. Canter also shares some thoughts about APA's position as a leader in the development and enforcement of professional ethics.     

Norine G. Johnson (1935-2011)

On November 19, 2011, Norine G. Johnson, the ninth woman to serve as president of the American Psychological Association (APA), lost a valiant battle with cancer. Norine's curiosity about her grandmother's strength led to much of her later work on the development of strength and resiliency in adolescent girls and in women. She received her doctorate in 1972, with a minor in child development, and she became one of the first to be considered a pediatric psychologist, a newly emerging specialty. Norine became involved in organized psychology as her children got older. When she learned there had not been a woman president of the Massachusetts Psychological Association (MPA) for almost 50 years, she was appalled. An ardent feminist, who had served on MPA's Board of Directors, she could not let the situation remain that way. She ran for president and won, serving from 1981 to 1983, and then mentored many women colleagues into the role. MPA sent her to the Council of the APA as one of their representatives, and she immediately ran for a seat on the Finance Committee, later serving as chair of the committee. During her tenure on the Finance Committee, she helped create financial policy that changed APA from an organization whose assets were threatened and shrinking to a financially solid association. Norine considered Division 35 (Psychology of Women) to be her home in APA, a place filled with warmth, collegiality, and shared values. She and Judith Worell spearheaded the extremely important and successful 1993 National Conference on Education and Training in Feminist Practice. Norine was elected to the APA Board of Directors in 1997, where she served with distinction, continuing to focus on the financial well-being of the Association. Not surprisingly, she went from that role to being elected APA president. Her focus as president was on the changes in the health care delivery system in the United States. She was a staunch champion of the biopsychosocial model of health. Under her presidential leadership, the APA Mission Statement was amended to add the word "health," confirming the importance of health to the psychological community. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Encounters with raven

I have been visited by Eurydice. She first came to me, unbidden, unexpected, in the way things usually first come to me–in a poem. But there was something different about how this poem happened. On one of my Fridays devoted to writing, I was suddenly hijacked by Eurydice's point of view, her voice, her demand that I speak for her. She was shrill. She was insistent. She gave me no choice but to work on the poem till I had gotten it how she wanted it. She feels she has been much neglected and misunderstood, and she let me know a poem was not enough. It was just the beginning. She wants prose. She wants essays. She wants public presentations. She wants me to tell her version of the story.     

Inclusivism and the spiritual journey of Marie de Souza Canavarro (1849–1933)

Every age has its share of religious seekers, but during some periods of spiritual crisis greater numbers of seekers seem to appear. Marie de Souza Canavarro, an American advocate and interpreter of Asian traditions, was a paradigmatic seeker in an age of religious wandering. Along the way, she embraced Catholicism, Theosophy, Buddhism, Bahá'í, and Hinduism. In this article I offer an interpretation of her life and work, drawing on her novels, poems, letters, lectures, articles, and autobiography. I argue that amidst the diversity of views she affirmed, there was some continuity. Canavarro longed for rest from her ceaseless wandering, and she hoped that religious and gender inclusivism might bring it. She, like others of her age, yearned for a tradition that elevated women and reconciled religions.     

Coming Out in Voices

This paper articulates the personal experiences of a woman with a physical disability who enters therapy to explore issues involving lesbian identity, health and illness, disability oppression and pride, and relationships. Written in the first person, the article uses anecdotes, poetry, and journal entries to chart the author's process of self-discovery. As a woman, a lesbian, and a person with a disability, the author frequently finds herself at odds with the culture around her. This creates conflicts between the author's real self, and the self she must present to others. She discusses how she had learned to "silence the voices" which were not useful in challenging the stereotypes, making others comfortable, or communicating with assistants. The author describes how therapy offered her the opportunity to unlearn the silence, value all of her voices, listen to herself, resolve her internal dilemmas, and develop a deeper sense of self.     

Jeri altneu sechzer (1926-2011)

Presents an obituary for Jeri Altneu Sechzer. Jeri studied at the University of Pennsylvania, where her mentor was the renowned physiological psychologist Elliot Stellar. She received her doctorate in 1962 with a specialty in physiological psychology. That same year she was elected to Sigma Xi, the scientific research society, and received the Creative Talent Award from the American Institute of Research for her doctoral dissertation. She completed a U.S. Public Health Service Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, after which she accepted a position at Baylor University College, followed by a position at the New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center. She completed her career as a visiting professor in the Psychology Department at Pace University. Jeri's husband of 56 years, Philip, died in 2004. As a result of her experience looking after him during the long illness that preceded his death, she became interested in the psychological impact of the stresses that caregivers face. She was planning to organize a conference on this subject when she suffered her final illness, leading to her death on October 29, 2011, just before her 85th birthday. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

“My Spiritual Journey to Know and Find Myself”: An Interview with Manisha Roy

In this interview, Manisha Roy shares how she became interested in Jungian psychology and how the concept of the shadow became a living help in her life. She relates how she has dealt with the heritage from her native country of India and shares her experience with marriage and divorce. She expresses her opinions about the future of depth psychotherapy.     

Change,Vulnerability, Fear,and Taking Risks–An Interview with Virginia Satir

SUMMARY

The author addresses the mythic characters of Ulysses and Penelope as archetypes for herself. She reviews divergent attitudes, beliefs and aspirations of her life by detailing an internal conflict between her identification with Ulysses1 adventuresomeness and her reluctant realization that Penelope can also represent her, however much she rejected her for seeming dull and repetitve

In this process the author notes how she constricted her own creativity when she took on uncritically the patriarchal beliefs about the roles of wives and mothers. Nevertheless she wonders whether present-day women's liberation from archaic notions about women inadvertently sacrifices the optimal development of children because of the rigid demands of the work-place.

Finally she experiences the symbolic reunion of Penelope's and Ulysses' different images within herself, and considers how what each represents can have renewed meaning for her as she moves towards the end of her life.     

The Wounded Counselor: Battle for the Soul at an Elite Private School

A Jungian analyst describes her experiences as a counselor in an independent school. Inspired to work in a nontherapeutic setting by James Hillman's call for “a depth psychology of extraversion,” she initially finds the school tolerant of human vulnerability and shadow and receptive to her efforts to engage with psyche on the individual and group levels. However, under new leadership the school goes through a radical change and certain forces ascendant in the larger collective—technology, globalization, rationalism, and stepped-up demand for measurable outcomes—come to dominate the school's values and culture. The author explores the impact of these changes on her own role as well as on the social, emotional, and psychological lives of the students. Although tempted to despair over the marginalization of psyche in an increasingly dehumanized world, she also finds cause for optimism in the upcoming generation of young people, which she sees as possessing remarkable psychological and relational intelligence. She ventures some observations about the unique struggles and gifts of the millennial generation, coming of age in the hyperconnected era of the Internet and largely outside the purview of the adults in their lives. Given the culture's failure to provide the psychological eldering these young people crave, she suggests that Jungians are uniquely qualified to fill this role and urges depth psychologists to consider the possibilities that exist in schools for fostering individuation, initiation, and other forms of soul-making. Finally, she explores some ideas for “emotional intelligence” programs grounded not in the standard cognitive-behavioral approaches but in imaginal, archetypal, and psychodynamic perspectives.     

A case report of compensation in daily life of a person with memory problems: detailed functional use of memory aids over a five-year period

Numerous studies have been conducted on memory aids for memory-impaired people. However, it is not known how they use these memory aids in a functional, practical way. A 20-year-old patient (MH) was monitored for five years to identify what memory aids or other means she used and how she used them to compensate for her memory problems, e.g., forgetting what was said by others in a few minutes and getting lost or turning in the wrong direction on a walk or in a building. Results indicated MH did not necessarily always use memory aids such as a notebook or calendar to compensate for her memory problems, although MH and her mother reported that she frequently used them in daily life. She coped with memory problems by using various "resources" besides the memory aid. These facts suggest that it may be necessary to redefine functionally useful compensations, which include both memory aids and resources in daily life.